Post by J Khan
Recent studies have shown that drinking more coffee can lead to better health by reducing chances of heart disease, and thus, eventually, lead to a longer life. Especially in women, the studies showed up to a 25% lower chance of heart disease. Decaffeinated coffee has also produced similar results, which shows that the ingredient causing the health benefits may not necessarily be caffeine, if at all.
Does this mean we should go out and binge on our coffee drinking? Not really. In order to “live halal” we know that too much of anything could become a bad thing. Too much fat, sugar, or salt in one’s diet can be quite harmful. In fact, even too much water can be deadly. However, we can take advantage of the health benefits of anything we put into our bodies by balancing it with other foods, or control the amounts we take in.
The Prophet Muhammad (saw), advised us:
“There is no worse vessel for the son of Adam to fill than his stomach, but if he must fill it, then let him allow one-third for food, one-third for drink, and one-third for air.” -Authentic hadith in Sahih Al-Jame’
ما ملأ آدمي وعاء شرا من بطنه ، بحسب ابن آدم أكلات يقمن صلبه ، فإن كان لا محالة ، فثلث لطعامه ، و ثلث لشرابه ، و ثلث لنفسه
Allah provided us with several bounties on the earth in the form of a variety of foods which each bring about their own unique benefits. In this same way, coffee will also do our bodies more good than bad (God willing). However, we should make sure to reinstate the advice of our beloved Prophet (saw) by moderating our intakes to make our experience more enjoyable.
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/06/16/coffee-habitsstudy.html